Herb oil, spiced nuts, pink pickled onion and salad dressing

Salsa Verde

Simplicity can make for delicious food. I will walk you through my favourite ways to make your cooking full of flavour, without the need for long recipes.

A seriously good way to use up herbs that you know you won't reach before they start looking peaky and a genius ingredient to have in the fridge. This green herb sauce transforms grilled vegetables, grilled meats, plates of lentils or beans and salads. There is no end to its uses and as long as it is covered with a layer of olive oil it will last for several weeks.

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove
• 1 ½ tbsp capers
• 5 anchovy fillets
• A bunch of parsley, leaves picked
• 1 big handful of mint leaves
• 1 big handful of dill, tarragon or marjoram
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 200ml olive oil

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Spiced Nuts

These are the perfect accompaniment to a sloe cocktail or any other drink you like to sip on Christmas Day or in the run-up to Christmas. Smoky, lightly spiced with a touch of gentle sweetness, they are completely irresistible, and a much healthier alternative to crisps, as I repeatedly tell myself half a bowl down.

Ingredients

• 200g blanched almonds
• 200g walnuts
• 100g macadamia nuts
• 200g cashews
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 ½ tbsp pale honey
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper, optional
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 10. Put the almonds and cashews on one baking tray and the walnuts and macadamia nuts on another and bake for about 7 - 10 minutes, or until the almonds and macadamias have turned a pale golden colour. The almonds might take a little less time than the other nuts.

1. Turn the oven down to 130. Tip one lot of nuts into the other and line the empty baking tray with foil. Meanwhile, heat a dry frying pan over medium heat and then toast the fennel and cumin seeds for a few minutes to wake up their taste. Empty into a pestle and mortar and roughly grind them, not minding if there are still some whole seeds.

1. Now put the pan back on the heat, add the pumpkin seeds and toast for a few minutes over medium heat. Add the honey, oil, rosemary, spices and nuts and stir continuously until the nuts are evenly coated with the spices and the honey has started to caramelize. Season with 1-2 teaspoons of salt.

1. Lay the nuts out on the lined baking tray, put them back into the oven for - minutes to set the nuts. Leave on the tray to cool. They will keep it in an airtight container for a fortnight at least. They are perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or anywhere in between.

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Pickled Onions

These bright citrussy onions are a stunning shade of pink and they make food come alive with their crisp, sweet, tart acidity. When I have a bowl in the fridge I find myself scattering them liberally over almost everything I cook.

This recipe comes from the Yucatan where the Spanish conquistadores came and planted great groves of Seville orange trees. A mixture of fresh lime and orange started replacing it when Seville oranges became harder to find.

Ingredients

• 2 medium red onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
• 30ml fresh lime juice, from 2 limes
• 40ml fresh orange juice, from 2 oranges
• Handful of chopped coriander, optional

Method

1. If you are short of time, cover the onions in boiling water and soak for 30 seconds, then drain. This will speed up the pickling process. Otherwise just cover the onions with the citrus juices, scrunching them into the citrus with your hands for 20-30 seconds. Stir in the coriander if using and refrigerate, covered for at least half an hour to allow the onion to macerate in the juices.

1. Serve on stews, salads, fritters and street food for a delicate, crunchy, sparkle of acidity and shock of neon pink.

1. If you would like to make the pickled onions spicier, you can add some finely diced scotch bonnet chile.

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French Dressing

I make my French dressing by ratios. Try my ratios here and then adjust to your palate and how sharp you like your vinaigrette.

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Red wine vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Soft brown sugar
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Start by grabbing the jam jar/Kilner jar of your choice. We get through so much French dressing that I tend to make mine in a 1 litre Kilner jar.

1. Fill the bottom of your jar up to an eighth with 1 part soft brown sugar, 2 parts Dijon mustard and 1-2 teaspoons of flaky sea salt. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

1. Pour in enough vinegar to take it up a third of the jar and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Fill with a good extra virgin olive oil – the better the oil, the better the dressing, ditto with the vinegar.

1. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and sugar and see how you like the balance of vinegar to oil.